Mixing device for hot and cold water.



J. L. SPARKS.

MIXING DEVICE FOR HOT AND COLD WATER.

APPLICATION- FILED AUG. s-s, 1914.

m sm Patented May16,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. Kay.

- K J. L. SPARKS. I MIXING DEVHI FOR HOT AND COLD WATER. APPLICATIONFILED AUG-15,1914.

Patented. May16,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JAMES L. SPARKS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MIXING DEVICE FOR HOT AND COLD WATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1c, 191

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, JAMES L. SPARKS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county'of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mixing Dev1ces for Hotand Cold Water, of which the following is a specification.

Devices of this character ordinarily comprise a chamber locatedconveniently near ,the place where the mixture of hot and cold water isto be used, as for example, near the supply outlet for a bathtub orshower bath.

The hot and cold water are led by separate pipes into said chamber, eachpipe being controlled by an independent inlet valve.

.The discharge of water from the chamber is usually controlled by athird or discharge valve. Considerable difficulty has been heretoforeencountered in regulating the temperature of the water discharged fromthe chamber to that desired,-and ordinarily it is necessary toseparately, adjust the hot and cold water inlet valves respectively, amanipulation which is inconvenient and requires considerable time.Furthermore,

owing to the fact that the pressure in the hot or cold water supplyfrequently varies within wide limits, due to withdrawals through otherconnections or clogging or other causes, the temperature of the waterdischarged from the chamber frequently changes though the inlet valvesfor the hot and cold water respectively may remain in the same position.Moreovenit not infrequently happens that the pressure upon the coldwater service is substantially shut off while the pressure upon the hotwater service remains high so that substantially untempered hot water isdischarged which may even reach the boiling point so that there is greatdanger of scalding the person when the mixing device is used for bathingpurposes.

My invention obviates the difficulties and objections referred to abovein that I need employ no discharge valve and only two inlet valves, anda single handle is employed for manipulating both inlet valves thecontinuous movement of which in one direction first turns on the coldwater, and then gradually opens the hot water-valve, at the same timegradually closing the cold water valve until they are in adjustedposition and the desired mixture is obtained. Provision is also madewhereby the valves are controlled scalding.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application I haveshown and in the following specification described in detail twopreferred forms of my invention. It will be understood, however, thatthe specific disclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only andthat the scope of my invention is defined in the following claims inwhich I have endeavored to distinguish it from the prior art so far asknown to me without, however, relinquishing or abandoning any portionthereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a substantiallycentral vertical section through a preferred form of the mixing device,parts being shown in elevation; Fig. 2 is a similar section on line 2-2of Fig. 1 but at right angles to the plane "thereof and Fig. 3 a Viewsimilarto Fig. 1 of a second form of the device.

Referring first to the form of theinvention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, themixing chamber is shown at 4 and may be of any suitable character andmaterial, here shown, however, as' a cast metal casing cylindrical inits upper part having a cover 5 secured thereto by screws or the like.the joint between the cover and casing proper being packed at 6 topreventleakage. The lower portion 4 is flattened producing shoulders at4* upon which the valve op rating mechanism is supported. The outlet isformed in the cover at 7 and the cold water connection consists of anexternally-threaded hollow boss 8 communicating through a valve seat 9screwed into an opening 9 in the easing, the hot water connection beingsimilarly formed as shown at 10. The valve operating mechanism ismounted upon a frame comprising a pair of side plates 14, 15 and flanges16, 17 which project over upon the shoulders 43 and are suitably securedthereto. The valves are connected to a valve lever 18 by stems 19, 20,pivoted to said valve lever at 9.1, 22, respectively. The valve lever isin turn pivoted at 23 on a shiftable pivot carried by the double arm 24:of a bell crank lever which is pivoted at 25 to the frame referred toabove. The other arm 26 of said bell crank lever carries a stud 27 whichis operated by a cam to be presently described, the object of whichconstruction is that the valve lever may be raised from and loweredtoward the valve seats by means of the shiftable pivot 23, the valvesbeing both carried into engagement with their seats when the shiftablepivot is raised but being movable therefrom, in a manner to be presentlydescribed when the shiftable pivot is lowered.

The cam referred to above by which the bell crank lever is actuated ismounted upon a shaft 28 journaled at 29 in a boss 30 upon the plate 14of the depending frame. The other-end of the shaft is reduced at 31 andreceives a compound cam 32 which is formed with a coaxial squared socket33 to receive the squared end 34 of a handle shaft 35.

. The latter is removably journaled in the easi'ng'by a bearing 36screwed into an opening 37 in the casing and provided with a packinggland 38 about the shaft 35, and the latter carries a handle 39 and apointer 40,

' which cooperates with a graduated are 41 on the casing to indicate theposition to' which the handle is turned. WVhen the supporting bearingand the handle shaft are in place in the casing the latter serves tosupport the adjacent end of the cam shaft 28. The cam 42 by which thebell crank lever is operated is an integral part of the compound cam andis in the form of a disk having a slot 43 engaging the stud 27 on saidlever and the slot is in part concentric as at 44 and in part eccentricas at 45. Then the valves are closed thestud 27 is at the eccentric endof said slot and during the first movement of the cam inthe directionindicated by the arrow a the stud rides outward in said slot, carryingthe shiftable pivot and the valve lever downward to their lowestpositions and the further revolution of the cam only maintains theshiftable piVOt stationary.

As above stated, when the valve lever is lowered by lowering theshiftable pivot the valves are lowered and free to leave their seat butit being desirable for obvious reasons I that the cold water valve befirst opened, a

means is provided for holding the hot water valve to its seat during apart at least of the downward movement of the valve.lever.

The device as heretofore described is or may be identical in both of theforms in which I have chosen to illustrate my invention but differentspecific means are employed in the respective forms for rotating thevalve lever about the shiftable pivot as it is lowered to maintain thehot water valve closed and open the cold water valve.

In the form shown in Fig. 1 the valve lever is provided with an arm 46which may be integral therewith or, as shown, applied depending frame.

same time open the cold water valve 12, the 7 operation of the cams 48and 42 being simultaneous. After the cold avater valve has reached itsmaximum open position the further revolution of the handle has noeii'ectupon the bodily movement ofthe valve lever due to the lowering oftlieshiftable pivot, but the further movement of the cam 48 relieves thearm 46 so that the valve lever is freeto swing in'the opposite directioning the valve lever the cold water valve is gradually drawn toward itsseat whereas the hot water valve is correspondingly moved away from itsseat. In order to effect this swinging movement of the valve lever Iform the compound cam with a third section 49 which engages an arm 50pivoted at 51 to a part of the stationary The outer end of said arm isbent upwardly and then outwardly and at its end 52 surrounds an eye-bolt53 which is pivoted at' 54 to the valve lever and depends therefrom. Aspring 55 surrounds the eye-bolt beneath the end of the arm and is putunder pressure by nuts 56. Obviously the cam 49 bearing upon the arm 50exerts. a yielding pressure upon the valve lever to swing the same andas the latter is gradually relieved by the cam 48 it is rocked togradually open the hot water valve and at the same time to partiallyclose the cold water valve. The cams are so arranged, however,relatively to each other that the cam 48 does not come into actionmaterially until the stud 27 reaches the concentric portion of the slot44 and until the point of maximum radius of the cam 48 has passed out ofcontact with thearm 46. It will thus be seen that during the initialrotation of the handle the valve lever is first lowered releasing thepressure of the valves on their seat while at the same time it is swungto maintain the hot water valve closed and open the cold water valve,but the continued movement of the handle causes the valve upon theshiftable pivot. By thus swingof the valves. For this purpose an arm 57is pivoted to the stationary frame .at 58 and connected at its outer endby a link 59 to the adjacent end of the valve lever. Between said arm 57and a stationary support 60, forming part of said frame, are insertedone or more thermostatic elements 61 which have the property ofexpanding when heated, and which together form a thermostatic motor,controlled by the temperature in the casing. I have shown in theaccompanying drawings a common form of said elements consisting in athin circular hollow body or drum of thin sheet metal which containssome suitable expansive fluid such as ether and is hermetically sealed.An adjusting screw 62 upon the arm 57 bears upon the center of theuppermost element so that as the temperature of the water in the casingrises, the pressure of these elements is transmitted to the arm 57 andby it to the valve lever to rock the same about the shiftable pivot, andcarry the hot water valve toward the contact of the arm 46 with its cam48 so that within the limits of movements of the part the valves will bemoved from adjusted position to maintain the temperature of the waterconstant. Obviously the spring 55 will yield to permit this action ofthe thermostatic elements.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 3, the casing, valves, valvelever, bell crank for raising and lowering the valve lever and cam foroperating the latter are as described in connection with the preferredmodification. The means for manually swinging the valve lever to openthe hot water valve is also substantially like that just describedexcept that the arm 50 embraces the stem 20 of the hot water valve andswings the valve lever by compressing the spring 55. Instead of the arm46 and coiiperating cam 48 for maintaining the hot water valve closedand opening the cold water valve as the valve lever is lowered, I employin this second modificationa spring 63 intermediate a collar orenlargement 64: upon the stem of the cold water valve and a stationaryabutment 65 forming a part of the depending frame. Obviously as thevalve lever is lowered it will be rocked by the spring 63 to open thecold water valve and maintain the hot water valve closed. In this formof the device I have shown a different but equivalent arrangement ofthethermostatic means for operating the valves though that previouslydescribed might obviously be employed. The means referred to consist inan arm 66 pivoted at 67 to a lug 68 upon the casing and at its free endjournaled on the pivot 21 by which the cold water valve is connected tothe valve lever. The arm 66 is recessed at 69 to receive a cross member70 of ayoke which is pivoted to the beam at 71 and extends on oppositesides thereof. A tie bar 72 is connected at its ends to the ends of thecross piece 70 and extends above but paced from the arm 66 and betweensaid tie bar and arm are inserted thermostatic elements 73 which may beof the same character as those previously described, an adjusting screw74 being employed to bear upon the thermostatic elements and which maybe turned to set the device for the temperature desired. The operationof this second thermostatic arrangement is substantially like thatdescribed in connection with that of the first form of my invention. Asthe temperature rises the thermostatic elements expand forcing thepivoted arm 66 downward at its outer end, so swinging the valve lever tomove the cold water valve away from and the hot water valve toward theirrespective seats.

The manipulation and operation of the two forms of the invention arealike. As the handle is turned from the closed position the valve leveris first shifted bodily toward the inlets and simultaneously swung aboutits pivot to cause the cold water valve to open gradually to its fullestextent. As the rotation ofthe handle is continued the bodily movement ofthe valve lever ceases but it now slowly swings in an opposite directionto it-s'first movement to gradually open the hot water valve andcorrespondingly shut off the cold water supply and thus place the valvesin adjusted position for the desired temperature. As the hot water valveis opened the thermostatic elements expand under the action bf therising temperature of the water and oppose the movement, the spring 55being put under increasing pressure as the handle is turned until it isin equilibrium with the thermostat at the re-. quircd temperature of thewater. No further manipulation is necessary notwithsures of the hot andcold water for the thermostat maintains the temperature constant.Obviously if the temperature or pres sure of the hot water rises for anyreason, the increased temperature of the mixture in the device causesthe'thermostatic elements to turn the valve lever against the pressureof spring 55 to move the valves from adjusted position so as to furtheropen the cold water valve and partially close the hot water valve and ifon the contrary the temperature of the water in the casing is loweredthe thermostatic elements yield under the pressure of the spring tofurther open the hot water valve andpartially close the cold watervalve. The device is simple in construction, easy to operate and repairand absolutely reliable.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, ashiftable pivot for the support of said valve lever, means whereby saidvalves are connected to said-valve lever in such a way that when saidvalve lever is turned about said pivot one of said valves moves towardclosed position and one moves away from closed position, means wherebysaid pivot may be shifted and said valve lever turned aboutits pivot tomove said valves from closed to adjusted position.

2. In a device of the class described, a

I casing having an outlet and a pair of inlets,

valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, a shiftable pivot for thesupport of said valve lever, means whereby said valves are connected tosaid valve lever in such a way that when said valve lever is turnedabout said pivot one of said valves moves toward closed position and onemoves away from closed position, means whereby said pivot may be shiftedand said valve lever turned about said pivot to move said valves fromclosed to adjusted position, a thermostatic motor controlled by thetemperature in said casing, and means operated by said motor to turnsaid lever.

3. In a device of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, valvestems connecting said valves to said valve lever, a shiftable pivotsupporting said valve lever intermediate of said valve stems, meanswhereby said pivot may be shifted and said valve lever turned about saidpivot, a thermostatic motor controlled by the temperature in saidcasing, and means operated by said motor to turn said valve lever aboutsaid pivot.

4. In a device of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, means whereby saidvalves may be placed in adjusted position, a thermostatic motorcontrolled by the temperature in said casing, means operated by saidmotor whereby said valves may be moved from adjusted position so thatone of said valves is moved toward closed position and the other of said"valves is moved away from closed position, and a spring acting tooppose said movement of said .v-alves by the action of said motor.

5. In a device of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, ashiftable pivot for the support of said valve lever, means whereby saidvalves are connected to said lever in such a way that when said lever isturned about said pivot one of said valves moves toward closed positionand the other of said valves moves away from closed position, meanswhereby said pivot may be shifted and said valve lever turned about saidpivot to place said valves in adjusted position, a thermostatic motorpontrolled by the temperature in said casmg, means operated by saidmotor to turn said valve lever, and a spring acting to oppose theturning of said valve lever by the action of said motor.

6. In adevice of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, valvestems connecting said valves to said valve lever, a shiftable pivotsupporting said valve lever intermediate of said valve. stems, meanswhereby said pivot may be shifted and said valve lever turned about saidpivot, a thermostatic motor controlled by the temperature in saidcasing, means operated by said motor to turn said valve lever,

and a spring acting to oppose the turning of said valve lever by theaction of said motor.

7. In a device of the class described, a casing having an outlet and apair of inlets, valves controlling said inlets, a valve lever, valvestems connecting said valves to said valve lever, a shiftablepivotsupporting said valve lever intermediate of said valve stems, meanswhereby said pivot may be shifted and said valve lever turned about saidpivot, a thermostatic motor controlled by the temperature in saidcasing, means operated by said motor to turn said valve lever, a springacting to oppose the turning of said valve lever by the action of saidmotor, and means whereby the opposing action of said spring may beadjusted.

JAMES L. SPARKS.

Vitnesses:

J OHN B. MAoAULEY, ROBERT DOBBERMAN.

